By FRANK ASAELI and JASON SOM KAUT
MENYAMYA MP Benjamin Phillip was stuck in a lift for more than an hour with nine other persons at the Monian Tower in Port Moresby during a power blackout yesterday.
Mr Phillip said the management of Monian Tower and PNG Power must come up with solutions to ensure that tenants could continue with their business.
He said this was not the first time that people had been trapped in lifts at the building.
“The Monian Tower houses important Government organisations such as the Agriculture Department and the IPA and such problems would really affect their business also,” he told The National.
Mr Phillip pointed out that he was asthmatic and was worried that he might suffocate or pass out if power was not quickly restored.
Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry president David Conn recently condemned the frequent blackouts in the city of late and demanded that PNG Power seriously addressed the problem.
“We are getting complaints every day about these blackouts and the damage being done to vital equipment in our business. We are even urged to lead a class action against PNG Power to seek financial redress for equipment damaged and loss of business,” he said.
He claimed that PNG Power was having internal conflicts which were affecting its service.
“Something needs to be done quickly. We cannot have the nation's capital held to ransom every time one power generator has problems or does routine maintenance on its equipment,” Mr Conn said.
Meanwhile, PNG Power workers in Yonki were working around the clock to get the fourth generator at Ramu up and running by this morning.
Intermittent power outages had left residents and business houses in Lae and the Highlands, without sufficient electricity from last Friday evening.
Lae’s power demand of 28 megawatts should be met by six generators bought from the Misima mines last year but they are not giving their full capacity, forcing Lae to fall back on Ramu.
Meanwhile, the five generators at Ramu are not giving their all forcing PNG Power to impose load-shedding.
PNG Power’s Lae manager Alex Oa said yesterday afternoon that once all five Ramu generators were fully operational, the load shedding in Lae would stop. The Highlands would follow immediately later.
Load shedding had taken a toll on business houses with many expressing concerns against loss of business and income.